1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to the art of cooking appliances and, more particularly, to a compact cooking appliance capable of combining radiant, convection, conduction and microwave heating techniques to perform a cooking operation.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
There exist a wide range of cooking appliances on the market. Many of these cooking appliances are designed for use in cooking various types of food products in different ways. For instance, where more conventional cooking appliances generally relied upon radiant energy as the sole heat source, more recent trends combine a radiant heat source with convection, microwave or conduction heating techniques, thereby increasing the versatility of the cooking appliance while potentially shortening required cook times. In particular, the prior art contains examples of appliances that combine radiant and convection cooking; convection, microwave and radiant cooking; and microwave, convection and conduction heating techniques.
Regardless of the existence of these known arrangements, there still exists a need for a cooking appliance that combines each of radiant, convection, microwave and conduction heating techniques in an efficient and effective manner to handle a wide range of food items. Particularly, there exists a need for a cooking appliance that can be used to rapidly prepare food products that require numerous different heat sources for full and complete cooking. For example, the rapid preparation of commercially produced, open-faced grilled sandwiches raises various cooking concerns. Open-faced grilled sandwiches require, at the very least, that heat be directed both downward onto an upper portion of the sandwich and upward onto a lower bun portion of the sandwich. In most cases this is accomplished by passing the open-faced sandwich on a conveyor belt through an oven between opposing radiant heat sources. While effective to a degree, the process can be time consuming and really does not result in a uniform heating of the meat, cheese and/or other toppings on the bread, nor an even toasting of the bread itself. In addition to this potential problem, a dual radiant oven of this type is simply not suitable for many other applications. For instance, an additional microwave oven or the like would typically be employed to heat soup or other liquid-based food items.
Regardless of the variety of known cooking appliances, there exists the need for a versatile cooking appliance that can preferably take advantage of radiant, convection, microwave and conduction cooking techniques such that the appliance can be used to rapidly and effectively cook a wide range of food items. Particularly, there exists a need for a cooking appliance that can establish a synergism between these various heating techniques in order to enhance the overall efficiency and effectiveness of the appliance. In addition, there exists a need in the art for a cooking appliance which can provide for both a convection air flow and with a suitable cooling air flow for heat generating components.